Ndaziona¹, a 20-year-old girl from GVH Mkanda in the area of Traditional Authority Mkanda of Mchinji district in the central region of Malawi, just like 29 other girls out of 100 in Malawi², got pregnant whilst in her teens. For Ndaziona, her case was bizarre as her ordeal came whilst she was in Standard 8 at Mkanda Primary School, just a few months before sitting for the PSLCE³.

When her pregnancy reached a point that she could no longer hide it, people—including her schoolmates—started making fun of her. This experience forced her to withdraw socially. “I stopped going out because people were just laughing at me. I even stopped going to school. Some schoolmates mocked me, saying that I was a mother. I felt so bad about it. I wanted to drop out of school completely,” Ndaziona shared. Despite the mockery she endured while pregnant, she went on and sat for her PSLCE with her pregnancy almost due and received just a pass. “Sitting for exams when I had not been in school for some months was another big challenge. I had to write the exams because I had already registered,” she said.

With her unsatisfactory results, she told herself never to go back to school. The idea of getting married and starting a rural life had begun settling in. However, the CVSU⁴, which had been strengthened by Oxfam in Malawi and Concerned Youth Organisation through the Reducing Poverty and Inequality Project, made efforts to reach out to her about returning to school. The committee’s persistence eventually changed her mind. They also engaged her mother, encouraging her to care for the grandchild so Ndaziona could focus on her education. She then enrolled at Mkanda Secondary School, attending open learning (afternoon) classes.

In 2024, Ndaziona wrote her Junior Certificate Examinations and is hoping to proceed to Form Three. She expressed deep gratitude to the CVSU for encouraging her return to school and convincing her mother to support her journey.

Ndaziona’s story is one of many examples of the impact the Reducing Poverty and Inequalities project is making in targeted communities in T/As Mkanda and Mduka in Mchinji district. CYO, in partnership with Oxfam, is implementing this project with funding from Irish Aid and Oxfam Ireland.

Footnotes

1. Ndaziona* is not the real name of the girl child in this case study.
2. UNFPA – Malawi: https://malawi.unfpa.org/en/news/unfpa-and-malawi-parliament-worried-high-rate-teenage-pregnancies
3. PSLCE: Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations.
4. CVSU: Community Victim Support Unit.